UM's James Coley returns to Tallahassee to face his old FSU team

Coley was Florida State's offensive coordinator last year, but the Miami native returned home in December to call plays for the Hurricanes

October 29, 2013|By Christy Cabrera Chirinos, Sun Sentinel

CORAL GABLES — — James Coley has seen the Miami-Florida State rivalry from a couple of different perspectives.

As a little boy, he grew up a few blocks from the Orange Bowl, where so many games ended in historic fashion.

He later watched games as a student at Florida State.

In 2008, he took a job the Seminoles' tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. During his time in Tallahassee, he moved up the coaching ranks, to become the Seminoles' offensive coordinator in 2010.

But for all his success landing some of the nation's top prospects, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher always was the one calling the offensive plays. When Miami offered him the chance to mold an offense, Coley, 40, returned home to South Florida and joined Al Golden's staff as the team's new offensive coordinator.

Now as the No. 7 Hurricanes head to Tallahassee for a Saturday night showdown against the No. 3 Seminoles, Coley will experience this storied rivalry in a new way — as Florida State's rival.

"I don't know. I'll tell you afterwards. It'll be different," Coley said when asked what it would be like to walk into Doak Campbell Stadium as a Hurricane. "I'm looking forward to seeing what that's like. It's a great place and I have a lot of great memories. I'm excited to go back. [FSU] has done a great job this year, and I'm very proud of what they've done. I'm looking forward to seeing them again."

While Coley's current crop of players are here in South Florida, there's no doubt his fingerprints are on Florida State's potent roster in Tallahassee.

As the Seminoles' recruiting coordinator, he helped FSU land back-to-back top-10 signing classes in 2008 and 2009. He was named the ACC's top recruiter in 2010 by ESPN.com and as tight ends coach, he worked directly with Seminoles' standout Nick O'Leary, a former Palm Beach Dwyer standout who has emerged as one of Jameis Winston's go-to targets with six touchdown catches.

Coley also had the opportunity to watch Winston as a scout-team player, before the quarterback sensation played his way into Heisman Trophy consideration through Florida State's first seven games.

"He's a tremendous talent. He's a kid that's great to work with. He works hard," Coley said of Winston. "I'm not surprised. I knew he had all those skills. When I watched him practice last year as a redshirt, I knew."

Though he knows Florida State's players well, Coley doesn't think he'll be able to give his new team any kind of inside information. The Seminoles coaching staff underwent multiple changes. The players have changed, too.

Instead, Coley's focusing on the tangible ways he can help Miami win, including working with quarterback Stephen Morris, sharing the sideline with players during games and drawing up schemes to showcase the Hurricanes' offensive playmakers.

"It's been fun [calling plays]. I've enjoyed the challenge," Coley said. "I obviously have a lot of respect for the job I did up there and the training that I got and the amount of time that I put in to getting to the point where I'm at, where I'm calling plays and I'm helping a team prepare and score."

Adds Golden, "I've been really impressed with his poise and his experience and maturity in terms of having a good grasp of what's going on and having a plan for each series, the adjustments that we make and obviously going with his gut in terms of what he sees."

And as they prepare to meet as rivals, Coley's previous boss says there are no hard feelings. Instead, he's confident Coley's career will only get better.

"He's added to what they've done and they're very well-coached all the way around the board…Coley's done a great job," Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. "I always said that Coley is a great offensive mind. I think he's a very good coach and a great recruiter and he's got a great future in this business."